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2013-05-05
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It was after the dinner peak period of 7pm-8pm when we arrived at Watami. No queue and no staff at the entrance though DinTai Fung was still having a long queue. We thought we could get seated and be served dinner in a jiffy, only to be disappointed. The bad stuff first:* no staff shortage at Watami which was 85%-90% full, but we were left standing at the door a good 10mins before we managed to get a staff to lead us to one of the empty tables.* only one menu and two sets of cutlery at the tabl
* no staff shortage at Watami which was 85%-90% full, but we were left standing at the door a good 10mins before we managed to get a staff to lead us to one of the empty tables.
* only one menu and two sets of cutlery at the table meant for three of us.
* water was served only after we asked for it twice, and brought to us one glass at a time. Even if staff were walking to and fro past our aisle side table and our empty glasses were put on the edge of the table they were not topped up.
* we were discouraged from ordering the beef don in stone bowl as the staff said there was at least 30mins wait.
* the server didnt bother to check on our orders and our pizza arrived after chasing them 3x and waiting 45mins - longer than the sizzling beef don that we were discouraged from ordering.
* we got tired of waiting for our bill and had to wait at the cashier's for it to be pulled up.
Ok, the service by the crew of Filipino fulltimers and student parttimers (both local and China) sucks big time, but Watami remains popular because it offers plenty of choices on its big menu and the prices are reasonable and affordable. Two of the three items we ordered were delicious too.
The watami salad $10.90++ was a generous portion with shrimps, shredded chicken, romaine lettuce, corn kernals, shredded seaweed and ebiko.
The watami chashu ramen $12.90++ that the waitress advised us to order instead of the beef don in stone pot. The so called cha shu was two thick slices of belly pork was different from the menu photo which showed grilled marbled chashu. The soup was too salty and oily. Should have stuck to our preferred item of beef don since we were kept waiting so long for our pizza!
The wafu pizza with teriyaki chicken $10.90++ that arrived 45mins later after several reminders, long after we had polished off the salad and ramen. Parts of the crust were burnt but the pizza was mostly cracker crisp and the teriyaki sauce, cheese and mayo base was lip smacking. Similar pizza from the overhyped Skinny Pizza Restaurant a few steps away will cost $24++.
Ratings:1/5 for service, 2/5 for environment (a bit stuffy and clothes smell of hotpot after meal); 4/5 for watami salad, 2.5/5 for ramen and 3.5/5 for pizza (worth the long wait. Will get 4/5 if not for parts of the burnt crust).
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